Lose The Tuition For Better Pay

Kyle has a job offer to go to a new position and make $10,000–15,000 more a year. One of his current benefits is discounted tuition. Should he leave while his wife still taking classes?

QUESTION: Kyle in Sioux Falls has a job offer to go to a new position and make $10,000–15,000 more a year. One of his current benefits is 90% off tuition at the college. His wife is a teacher and 2/3 finished with her master’s degree. Should he leave while she’s still taking classes? Dave thinks there are more benefits to taking the new job with a pay increase.

ANSWER: Why are we getting a master’s degree to be a mommy? If you want to be a mommy or if you want to be a teacher, either one of those is fine with me.

We’re not doing it for the one-year-old. We’re not going to stay there seventeen years. That one is kind of a no-brainer. The tuition on the wife is one thing. If she wanted to finish her master’s and you got a $15,000 raise and it cost you $4,000 in tuition, did you still come out $11,000 ahead?

I would take the job unless there are other reasons not to take it—if it’s not a good work environment, the people are not trustworthy, or something. That’s different. All things being equal, you take the $15,000 raise in lieu of the tuition benefit for your wife, and she can still go over there and finish whenever she wants if she wants. Purely on the financials, you take this job. I would also question why your wife is going to spend $4,000 on a degree that she’s not going to use. It’s okay to do that, but let’s think about why we’re doing that.

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